Apparatus for displaying a multi-window system having an active application and an inactive application

ABSTRACT

In an information processing apparatus according to the present invention, a control unit notifies each application program of a key input event in a multi-window system. If the state of a first application program is inactive, the control unit determines whether or not the event notified to the first application program is a key input event caused by a key other than an active switching key. If it is determined that the event is a key input event caused by a key other than the active switching key, the control unit causes a clock circuit to time a predetermined time period, and performs control so as to omit part of processing by the first application program, or to provide a predetermined wait time in between the processing by the first application program, until the predetermined time period is timed out.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus.Specifically, the present invention relates to an information processingapparatus such as a cellular phone which can simultaneously display aplurality of windows by a multi-window system.

2. Description of the Related Art

In recent years, cellular phones as information processing apparatusesare increasingly equipped with not just a communication function via atelephone call but also such functions as an address book function, ane-mail function via a network such as a base station or the Internet, abrowser function allowing browsing of Web pages or the like, and furthera music control function allowing listening of audio data, and afunction allowing reception of terrestrial digital one-segment broadcastwaves. Also, it is becoming increasingly possible to reproduce receivedimages based on terrestrial digital one-segment broadcast waves, orvarious video contents acquired by other means, on cellular phones.

Recently, cellular phones equipped with a multi-window system are alsoproposed. This multi-window system represents a method of implementingwindow applications by placing display parts on a plurality of windows.In cellular phones equipped with a multi-window system, a plurality ofwindow applications run simultaneously on the screen, and a plurality ofwindows are displayed simultaneously.

Examples of application programs (window applications) using windows onthe screen include application programs related to reproduction ofmoving images (that is, video reproduction application programs), andapplication programs related to transmitting/receiving and generation ofe-mails. As an example of techniques related to reproduction of movingimages, a technique is known in which if performing a decoding processon a moving image that places a high processing load, upon detectingthat the processing load involved (for example, the processor usage, thememory usage, or the like) is high, part of the decoding process on themoving image is omitted (see, for example, Japanese Unexamined PatentApplication Publication No. 2006-101405).

According to the technique disclosed in Japanese Unexamined PatentApplication Publication No. 2006-101405, the video reproductionapplication program detects the current load on the computer, and if thecurrent load on the computer is not high, the video reproductionapplication program executes a normal decoding process in which allencoded screens are decoded, and if the current load on the computerbecomes high, the video reproduction application program executes adecoding process that omits decoding of unreferenced screens which arenot referenced from other screens. This allows decoding of a movingimage to be executed smoothly.

Consider a case where, in the multi-window system in which a pluralityof window applications run simultaneously on the screen, and a pluralityof windows are displayed simultaneously, an application program thatplaces a high load on the CPU, for example, an application programrelated to reproduction of moving images, exists among the windowapplications that are running. In this case, upon attempting to executeanother application program simultaneously with processing by thisapplication program related to reproduction of moving images, even if acommand is input to the cellular phone when an input unit is operated bythe user, it takes some time until the command is accepted by the otherapplication, which not only detracts from the responsiveness of thecellular phone but also detracts from the ease of use for the user.

Of course, if the technique disclosed in Japanese Unexamined PatentApplication Publication No. 2006-101405 is used, when the current loadon the computer becomes high, a decoding process that omits decoding ofunreferenced screens which are not referenced from other screens can beexecuted, and this would make it possible to execute decoding of amoving image smoothly. However, since part of the decoding process on amoving image is omitted in all cases regardless of whether the user islooking at the moving image or not, even when the user is looking at themoving image, part of the decoding process on the moving image isomitted against the user's will, resulting in loss of smoothness ofmotion upon reproducing the moving image.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentionedcircumstances. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention toprovide an information processing apparatus such as a cellular phonethat allows high-load processing by an inactive application to beexecuted while maintaining the responsiveness of a window applicationthat is active, in a case when a plurality of window applications arerunning in a multi-window system.

To solve the above-mentioned problems, according to the presentinvention, there is provided an information processing apparatus for amulti-window system in which at least a first application program and asecond application program run simultaneously, the first applicationprogram and the second application program having an active state and aninactive state, comprising: an event notifying unit configured to notifyeach application program of an event related to input; an activate unitconfigured to activate one of the application program and deactivate theother application program; a determining unit configured to determinewhether or not an input is made to an application program that is inactive state; a timing unit configured to time a predetermined time, ifit is determined by the determining unit that an input is made to the anapplication program that is in active state; and a control unitconfigured to control so as to omit part of processing related to theapplication program that is in inactive state, until the predeterminedtime period is timed out by the timing unit. To solve theabove-mentioned problems, according to the present invention, there isprovided an information processing apparatus for a multi-window systemin which at least a first application program and a second applicationprogram run simultaneously, the first application program and the secondapplication program having an active state and an inactive state,comprising: an event notifying unit configured to notify eachapplication program of an event related to input; an activate unitconfigured to activate one of the application program and deactivate theother application program; a determining unit configured to determinewhether or not an input is made to an application program that is inactive state; a timing unit configured to time a predetermined time, ifit is determined by the determining unit that an input is made to the anapplication program that is in active state; and a control unitconfigured to control so as to provide a predetermined wait time inbetween the processing related to the application program that is ininactive state, until the predetermined time period is timed out by thetiming unit.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1A and 1B are views showing the exterior configuration of acellular phone that can be applied to an information processingapparatus according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of acellular phone that can be applied to an information processingapparatus according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is an illustrative view illustrating an assumed usage situationin which the user uses a multi-window system with the cellular phoneshown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing a functional configurationthat can be executed by a control unit of the cellular phone shown inFIG. 2, in a multi-window system;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an application management process inthe cellular phone shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing state transitions of an application;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart schematically illustrating an applicationexecuting process that is executed if the state of an application isactive, in the cellular phone shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart schematically illustrating an applicationexecuting process that is executed if the state of an application isactive, in the cellular phone shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing in detail a functional configuration thatcan be executed by a control unit of the cellular phone shown in FIG. 2,in a multi-window system;

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing state transitions of an application duringexecution of the application that is an application program related toreproduction of moving images;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating an application executing process inan active normal reproduction state in the cellular phone shown in FIG.9;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating an application executing process inan inactive normal reproduction state in the cellular phone shown inFIG. 9;

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating an application executing process inan inactive light-processing reproduction state in the cellular phoneshown in FIG. 9;

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating an application executing process inan inactive normal reproduction wait state in the cellular phone shownin FIG. 9;

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating an application executing process inan active normal reproduction wait state in the cellular phone shown inFIG. 9;

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing in detail another functional configurationthat can be executed by a control unit of the cellular phone shown inFIG. 2, in a multi-window system;

FIG. 17 is a view showing a display example of thumbnails;

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing state transitions of an application duringexecution of an application that is an application program related tothumbnail display;

FIG. 19 is a flowchart illustrating an application executing process inan active normal operation state in the cellular phone shown in FIG. 16;

FIG. 20 is a flowchart illustrating an application executing process inan inactive normal operation state in the cellular phone shown in FIG.16;

FIG. 21 is a flowchart illustrating an application executing process inan inactive low speed operation state in the cellular phone shown inFIG. 16;

FIG. 22 is a flowchart illustrating another application executingprocess in an inactive normal operation state in the cellular phoneshown in FIG. 16; and

FIG. 23 is a flowchart illustrating another application executingprocess in an inactive low speed operation state in the cellular phoneshown in FIG. 16.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described withreference to the drawings.

FIGS. 1A and 1B show the exterior configuration of a cellular phone 1that can be applied to an information processing apparatus according tothe present invention. FIG. 1A shows the exterior configuration of thecellular phone 1 when flipped open to approximately 180 degrees, as seenfrom the front. FIG. 1B shows the exterior configuration of the cellularphone 1 when flipped open, as seen from the side.

As shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the cellular phone 1 has a first casing 12and a second casing 13 that are hinge-connected to each other with ahinge part 11 in the middle. The cellular phone 1 is formed so as to befoldable in an arrow X direction via the hinge part 11. Atransmitting/receiving antenna (an antenna 31 in FIG. 2 described later)is provided at a predetermined position inside the cellular phone 1. Thecellular phone 1 may transmit/receive radio waves with a base stationvia the built-in antenna.

The first casing 12 has on its surface an operating key 14, includingalphanumeric keys “0” to “9”, a outgoing call key, a redial key, a powerkey, a clear key, and an e-mail key. Various instructions can be inputby using the operating key 14.

The first casing 12 has a cross key and an enter key that are providedin an upper portion as the operating key 14. The cursor being pointedcan be moved up, down, left, and right by the user operating the crosskey up, down, left, and right. Specifically, various operations such asscrolling through a telephone directory list or e-mails displayed on amain display 17 provided in the second casing 13, flipping through pageson an easy website, and image feed are executed.

By depressing the enter key, entry of various functions can beconfirmed. For example, in the first casing 12, when a desired telephonenumber is selected in accordance with a user's operation on the crosskey from among a plurality of telephone numbers in the telephonedirectory list displayed on the main display 17, and the enter key isdepressed in a direction toward the interior of the first casing 12,entry of the selected telephone number is confirmed and a outgoing callis made to the telephone number.

Further, the first casing 12 has the e-mail key provided next and to theleft of the cross key and the enter key. An e-mailtransmitting/receiving function can be called upon depressing the e-mailkey in a direction toward the interior of the casing 12. A browser keyis provided next and to the right of the cross key and the enter keyWhen the browser key is depressed in a direction toward the interior ofthe casing 12, Web page data can be perused.

The first casing 12 also has a microphone 15 provided below theoperating key 14. The voice of the user during a call is collected bythe microphone 15. Also, an active switching key 22 is provided next andto the right of the microphone 15. The active switching key 22 allowsswitching of an active window application in a multi-window system inwhich a plurality of window applications run simultaneously on thescreen and a plurality of windows are displayed simultaneously. Further,the first casing 12 has a side key 16 for operating the cellular phone1.

A battery pack is inserted to be attached on a back surface side of thefirst casing 12. When the power key turns ON, electric power is suppliedto individual circuit units from the battery pack, effecting activationto a ready-to-operate state.

On the other hand, the second casing 13 has the main display 17 providedon its front side. In addition to the reception state of radio waves,the remaining battery capacity, and the names or telephone numbers ofthe other call parties and the send history registered in the telephonedirectory, the main display 17 can also display the contents of ane-mail, an easy website, an image captured by a CCD camera (a CCD camera20 in FIG. 2 described later), content received from an external contentserver, and content stored in a memory card (a memory card 46 in FIG. 2described later). A telephone receiver (earpiece) 18 is provided at apredetermined position above the main display 17, thus allowing the userto make a voice call. A speaker (speaker 50 in FIG. 2) is also providedat a predetermined position of the cellular phone 1 as a voice outputunit other than the telephone receiver 18.

Magnetic sensors 19 a, 19 b, 19 c, and 19 d for detecting the state ofthe cellular phone 1 are provided at predetermined positions inside thefirst casing 12 and the second casing 13. The main display 17 may be,for example, a display includes an organic EL, or a liquid crystaldisplay.

FIG. 2 shows the internal configuration of the cellular phone 1 that canbe applied to the information processing apparatus according to thepresent invention. A radio signal transmitted from a base station isreceived by the antenna 31, and then input to a receiving circuit (RX)33 via an antenna sharing unit (DUP) 32. The receiving circuit 33 mayperform mixing of the received radio signal with a local oscillationsignal output from a frequency synthesizer (SYN) 34 to down-convert thereceived radio signal into an intermediate frequency signal. Then, thereceiving circuit 33 generates a reception baseband signal by performinga quadrature demodulation (quadrature detection) on the down-convertedintermediate frequency signal. The receiving circuit 33 outputs thegenerated baseband signal to a CDMA signal processing unit 36 Thefrequency of the local oscillation signal generated from the frequencysynthesizer 34 is indicated by a control signal SYC output from acontrol unit 41.

The CDMA signal processing unit 36 includes a RAKE receiver. In the RAKEreceiver, a plurality of paths included in the reception baseband signalare despread with the respective spread codes (that is, spread codesequivalent to those of the spreading code of the spread receivedsignal). Then, after the phase in the despread signals of the respectivepaths is adjusted, the despread signals of the respective paths arecoherently RAKE-combined by the RAKE receiver. The data series obtainedthrough after this Rake combining is subjected to de-interleaving andchannel decoding (error correction decoding), followed by binary datadetermination. Thus, reception packet data in a predeterminedtransmission format can be obtained. This reception packet data is inputto a compression/decompression processing unit 37.

The compression/decompression processing unit 37 includes a digitalsignal processor (DSP) or the like. The compression/decompressionprocessing unit 37 separates the reception packet data output from theCDMA signal processing unit 36 in a multiplexer/demultiplexer for eachmedia, and performs a decoding process on each of the data separated foreach medium. For example, when in the call mode, speech datacorresponding to call voice included in the reception packet data isdecoded by a speech codec. Also, if moving image data is included in thereception packet data such as when in, for example, a video-phone modeor the like, this moving image data is decoded by a video codec.Further, if the reception packet data is download content, after thisdownload content is decompressed (expanded), the decompressed downloadcontent is output to the control unit 41.

A digital speech signal obtained by the decoding process is supplied toa PCM codec unit 38. The PCM codec unit 38 PCM-decodes the digitalspeech signal output from the compression/decompression processing unit37, and outputs a PCM-decoded analog speech data signal to a receivingamplifier 39. After being amplified by the receiving amplifier 39, theanalog speech signal is output from the telephone receiver 18.

A digital moving image signal obtained through decoding performed by thecompression/decompression processing unit 37 at the video codec is inputto the control unit 41. The control unit 41 causes the main display 17to display a moving image based on the digital moving image signaloutput from the compression/decompression processing unit 37, via avideo RAM such as a VRAM. The control unit 41 can display not onlyreceived moving image data but also moving image data captured by theCCD camera 20, on the main display 17 via a video RAM.

If the reception packet data is an e-mail, the compression/decompressionprocessing unit 37 supplies the e-mail to the control unit 41. Thecontrol unit 41 causes a storage unit 42 to store the e-mail suppliedfrom the compression/decompression processing unit 37. Then, inaccordance with a user's operation on the operating key 14 serving as aninput unit, the control unit 41 reads the e-mail stored in the storageunit 42, and causes the main display 13 to display the read e-mail.

On the other hand, when in the call mode, a speech signal (analog speechsignal) of a speaker (user) input to the microphone 15 is amplified toan appropriate level by a transmitting amplifier 40 before beingPCM-encoded by the PCM codec unit 38. The PCM-encoded digital speechsignal is input to the compression/decompression processing unit 37. Themoving image signal output from the CCD camera 20 is digitized by thecontrol unit 41 and then input to the compression/decompressionprocessing unit 37. Further, an e-mail as text data generated by thecontrol unit 41 is also input to the compression/decompressionprocessing unit 37.

The compression/decompression processing unit 37 may compression-codethe digital speech signal output from the PCM codec unit 38 in a formataccording to a predetermined transmission data rate. Speech data is thusgenerated. The compression/decompression processing unit 37 alsocompression-codes the digital moving image signal output from thecontrol unit 41 to generate moving image data. Then, thecompression/decompression processing unit 37 multiplexes and thenpacketizes the speech data and moving image data in themultiplexer/demultiplexer in accordance with a predeterminedtransmission format, and outputs the packetized transmission packet datato the CDMA signal processing unit 36. In a case when an e-mail isoutput from the control unit 41 as well, the compression/decompressionprocessing unit 37 multiplexes this e-mail into the transmission packetdata.

The CDMA signal processing unit 36 applies a spread-spectrum process tothe transmission packet data output from the compression/decompressionprocessing unit 37 by using a spreading code assigned to thetransmission channel. The CDMA signal processing unit 36 then outputs anoutput signal generated by the spread-spectrum process to a transmittingcircuit (TX) 35. The transmitting circuit 35 modulates the signal afterthe spread-spectrum process by using a digital modulation method such asa QPSK (Quadrature Phase Shift Keying) method. The transmitting circuit35 synthesizes the digital-modulated transmission signal with the localoscillation signal generated from the frequency synthesizer 34 toup-convert the resulting signal into the radio signal. The transmissioncircuit 35 amplifies the radio signal generated by this up-converting toa high frequency so as to obtain a transmission power level indicated bythe control unit 41. The radio signal thus amplified to a high frequencyis supplied to the antenna 31 via the antenna sharing unit 32, andtransmitted from the antenna 31 to a base station.

The cellular phone 1 includes an external memory interface 45. Theexternal memory interface 45 includes a slot allowing insertion andremovable of a memory card 46. The memory card 46 used is a kind offlash memory card typically represented by a NAND flash memory card anda NOR flash memory card. The memory card 46 allows various kinds of datasuch as images, speech, and music to be written and read via a 10-pinterminal. Further, the cellular phone 1 has a clock circuit (timer) 47that measures the current time with accuracy.

The control unit 41 includes a CPU, a ROM and a RAM. The CPU executesvarious kinds of processing in accordance with programs stored in theROM or various application programs including the operating system (OS),which are loaded into the RAM from the storage unit 42. Also, the CPUgenerates various control signals, and supplies the signals toindividual units, thereby performing centralized control of the cellularphone 1. The RAM stores data necessary for the CPU to execute variouskinds of processing, as appropriate.

The storage unit 42 is includes a flash memory device that is anon-volatile memory that allows data to he rewritten or erasedelectrically, an HDD, or the like. The storage unit 42 stores variousapplication programs to be executed by the CPU of the control unit 41,and various data sets.

A power circuit 44 generates a predetermined operating power supplyvoltage Vcc on the basis of the output of a battery 43, and supplies theoperating power supply voltage Vcc to each circuit unit. Also, aterrestrial digital one-segment receiving unit 48 receives terrestrialdigital one-segment broadcast waves or terrestrial digital radiobroadcast waves from a broadcasting station, and generates a TS signalbased on the received terrestrial digital one-segment broadcast waves orterrestrial digital radio broadcast waves to be supplied to aterrestrial digital processing unit 49. When terrestrial digitalone-segment broadcast waves are received by the terrestrial digitalone-segment receiving unit 48, the terrestrial digital processing unit49 separates the TS signal based on the terrestrial digital one-segmentbroadcast waves from the terrestrial digital one-segment receiving unit4 into individual ESs related to audio data and video data. Theterrestrial digital processing unit 49 then decodes the separated audiodata in a predetermined decoding method by an audio decoder inside theterrestrial digital processing unit 49, and also decodes the separatedvideo data in a predetermined decoding method by a video decoder insidethe terrestrial digital processing unit 49. The terrestrial digitalprocessing unit 49 supplies the decoded digital audio signal and decodeddigital moving image signal to the control unit 41.

Next, referring to FIG. 3, a description will be given of an assumedusage situation in which the user uses the multi-window system with thecellular phone 1 shown in FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 3, when the user usesthe multi-window system with the cellular phone 1 shown in FIG. 2, thescreen displayed on the main display 17 is split into two areas andscreens related to different applications (application programs) aredisplayed on the main display 17. In the case of FIG. 3, a screen for anapplication A that is an application program related to moving imagereproduction is displayed in a window A in an upper display area of themain display 17. Also, a screen for an application B that is anapplication program related to the transmitting/receiving and generationof e-mails is displayed in a window B in a lower display area of themain display 17.

In the case of FIG. 3, the application A executed in the window A in theupper display area of the main display 17 is currently inactive. At thistime, even when the operating key 14 or the like of the input unit Isoperated by the user, the input is not accepted by the application A. Onthe other hand, the application B executed in the window B in the lowerdisplay area of the main display 17 is currently active. At this time,when the operating key 14 of the input unit is operated by the user, theapplication B executes processing according to the operating key 14 withwhich an input has been made. In the case of FIG. 3, since theapplication B executed in the window B is currently active, and a keyinput has been made to the application B, it is assumed that the user'sline of sight is directed to the application B.

By operating the active switching key 22, the user can switch anapplication that is currently active on the screen of the main display17. For example, since the currently active application is theapplication A in the upper display area, as the active switching key 22is operated by the user, the active application is switched from theapplication A to the application B.

A configuration is also possible in which when the user uses themulti-window system, the screen displayed on the main display 17 issplit into, for example, three or more areas, and screens related tothree or more different applications are displayed on the main display17. While there must be only one active application at a time, there maybe two or more inactive applications at a time.

FIG. 4 schematically shows a functional configuration that can beexecuted by the control unit 41 of the cellular phone 1 shown in FIG. 2,in the multi-window system. As shown in FIG. 4, the control unit 41 hasan application management unit as a characteristic configurationaccording to the present invention. The application management unitmanages which application is active or inactive among a plurality ofapplications (window applications) that are currently running in themulti-window system. Also, the control unit 41 notifies individualapplications (for example, the application A and the application B thatrun simultaneously in the multi-window system) of an event, by theapplication management unit. There are various examples of this event,such as an activate/deactivate event following an operation on theactive switching key 22 of the input unit, a key event based on anoperation on the operating key 14, and a timer event based on a timerset by the clock circuit 47. The applications perform processing inaccordance with the notified event. Then, the processing results ofindividual applications are displayed in corresponding windows of themain display 17. For example, the processing result of the application Ais displayed in the window A, and the processing result of theapplication B is displayed in the window B.

Next, referring to a flowchart in FIG. 5, an application managementprocess in the cellular phone 1 shown in FIG. 4 will be described. Thisapplication management process is executed by the application managementunit if a plurality of applications are activated, and the plurality ofapplications are run simultaneously by using the multi-window system. Inparticular, FIG. 5 illustrates an application management process relatedto, among various events, an activate/deactivate event following anoperation on the active switching key 22 of the input unit, and a keyevent following an operation on the operating key 14.

In step S1, the control unit 11 executes the application managementunit, and accepts a key input on the input unit as the input unit (theoperating key 14, the active switching key 22, the side key 16, and thelike) is operated by the user. If there is no key input on the inputunit, the control unit 41 waits until a key input is made on the inputunit.

In step S2, if the control unit 41 executes the application managementunit, and accepts a key input on the input unit following a user'soperation on the input unit, the control unit 41 identifies the kind ofthe key input, and determines whether or not the accepted key input isan input made by the active switching key 22. If the control unit 41determines in step S2 that the key input is an input made by the activeswitching key 22, in step S3, the control unit 41 executes theapplication management unit, and switches an active application.Specifically, the control unit 41 notifies the currently activeapplication of a deactivate event for causing transition from an activestate to an inactive state, and notifies the currently inactiveapplication (when a plurality of inactive applications exist, one of theinactive applications) of an activate event for causing transition froman inactive state to an active state.

On the other hand, if the control unit 41 determines in step S2 that thekey input is not an input made by the active switching key 22, in stepS4, the control unit 41 executes the application management unit, andnotifies each of applications that are simultaneously running in themulti-window system, of an event related to a key input made by a keyother than the active switching key 22 (for example, a key input made bythe operating key 14).

In step S5, as an instruction for terminating the application managementprocess is issued, the control unit 41 determines whether or not toterminate the application management process. If the control unit 41determines in step S5 to terminate the application management process,the application management process is terminated. If the control unit 41determines in step S5 not to terminate the application managementprocess, the process returns to step S1, and the processes from step S1onwards are repeatedly executed.

FIG. 6 is a state transition diagram showing transition states to whicheach application can transit, in a case when a plurality of applicationsare run simultaneously by using the multi-window system. In the case ofFIG. 6, the state of an application can transit to an active state andan inactive state As shown in FIG. 6, when the state of an applicationis active, and a key input event caused by a key other than the activeswitching key 22 is received, the state of the application remainsactive with no state transition, as indicated by the arrow P in FIG. 6.Also, when the state of an application is inactive, and a key inputevent caused by a key other than the active switching key is received,the state of the application remains inactive with no state transition,as indicated by the arrow R in FIG. 6. Further, when the state of anapplication is active, and a key input event caused by the activeswitching key 22 (deactivate event) is received, the state of theapplication transits from an active state to an inactive state inaccordance with the received deactivate event, as indicated by the arrowQ in FIG. 6. On the other hand, when the state of an application isinactive, and a key input event caused by the active switching key 22(activate event) is received, the state of the application transits froman inactive state to an active state in accordance with the receivedactivate event, as indicated by the arrow S in FIG. 6.

Next, referring to a flowchart in FIG. 7, an application executingprocess in the cellular phone 1 shown in FIG. 4 will be schematicallydescribed. This application executing process is executed by eachindividual application when a plurality of applications are runsimultaneously by using the multi-window system. The applicationexecuting process described with reference to the flowchart in FIG. 7 isa process that is executed if the state of an application is active. Aprocess executed if the state of an application is inactive will bedescribed later with reference to FIG. 8.

In step S11, the control unit 41 executes applications that are to beran simultaneously by using the multi-window system (for example, theapplication A, the application B, and the like shown in FIG. 4). Each ofthe applications receives various events sequentially notified from theapplication management unit (for example, an event related to a keyinput made by a key other than the active switching key 22, an activateevent, and a deactivate event).

In step S12, the control unit 41 determines whether or not the receivedevent is a deactivate event caused by the active switching key 22. Ifthe control unit 41 determines in step S12 that the received event isnot a deactivate event caused by the active switching key 22 but anevent caused by a key (for example, the operating key 14) other than theactive switching key 22, in step S13, the control unit 41 applies normalprocessing to an application corresponding to the key input. The term“normal processing” as used herein means that the processing load is notreduced by omitting some processing or inserting a wait in betweenprocessing. In this way, when the state of an application is active, anda key input event caused by a key other than the active switching key isreceived, the state of the application remains active with no statetransition, as indicated by the arrow P in FIG. 6.

In step S14, the control unit 41 controls the main display 17 to displaythe processing result following the normal processing in step S13, in awindow corresponding to the application (in the case of FIG. 4, in thewindow A if the processing result of the application A is to bedisplayed). Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S16. In step S16,as an instruction for terminating the application executing process isissued, the control unit 41 determines whether or not to terminate theapplication executing process. If the control unit 41 determines in stepS16 to terminate the application executing process, the applicationexecuting process is terminated. If the control unit 41 determines instep S16 not to terminate the application executing process, the processreturns to step S11, and the processes from step S11 onwards arerepeatedly executed.

On the other hand, if the determining unit 41 determines in step S12that the received event is a deactivate event caused by the activeswitching key 22, in step S15, the control unit 41 changes the state ofthe application from an active state to an inactive state in accordancewith the received deactivate event, as indicated by the arrow Q in FIG.6. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S16.

Referring to a flowchart in FIG. 8, an application executing process inthe cellular phone 1 shown in FIG. 4 will be schematically described.The application executing process described with reference to theflowchart in FIG. 8 is a process that is executed if the state of anapplication is inactive. The processes of step S21, and steps S24 to S26in FIG. 8 are the same as the processes of step S11, steps S13 and S14,and step S16 in FIG. 7, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

In step S22, the control unit 41 determines whether or not the receivedevent is an activate event caused by the active switching key 22. If thecontrol unit 41 determines in step S22 that the received event is not anactivate event caused by the active switching key 22, since theapplication is inactive, the control unit 41 recognizes that among kindsof an event received in step S21, an event related to a key input cannotbe accepted by this application, and in step S23, the control unit 41determines whether or not the received event is an event caused by a keyother than the active switching key 22 (for example, the operating key14).

If the control unit 41 determines in step S23 that the received event isnot an event caused by a key other than the active switching key 22 (forexample, the operating key 14), the process proceeds to step S24. Instep S24, the normal processing is executed. Thereafter, the processproceeds to step S25.

On the other hand, if the control unit 41 determines in step S23 thatthe received event is an event caused by a key other than the activeswitching key 22 (for example, the operating key 14), the control unit41 recognizes the received event as being an event with respect toanother application that is running simultaneously in the multi-windowsystem. In step S27, the control unit 41 changes the processing methodso as to execute this application by lighter processing (processingachieved by, for example, omitting some processing, or inserting a waitin between processing) than the normal processing.

In step S28, the control unit 41 controls the main display 17 to displaythe processing result following the light processing in step S27, in awindow corresponding to the application. In this ways if the state of anapplication is inactive, and a key input event caused by a key otherthan the active switching key is received, the state of the applicationremains inactive with no state transition, as indicated by the arrow Rin FIG. 6.

If the control unit 41 determines in step S22 that the received event isan activate event caused by the active switching key 22, in step S29,the control unit 41 executes the application, and changes the state ofthe application from inactive to active in accordance with the receivedactivate event, as indicated by the arrow S in FIG. 6. Thereafter, theprocess proceeds to step S26.

Thus, if multiple applications are running in the multi-window system,by making the processing of inactive applications lighter, processing byan active window application can be performed preferentially, therebymaking it possible to improve the response speed of the activeapplication.

While the concept and processing according to the present invention havebeen described above with reference to FIGS. 3 to 8, a specificdescription will now be given of the application processing according tothe present invention described above with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8.In the following description, it is assumed that as shown in, FIG. 3,the application A executed in the window A of the main display 17 is anapplication program related to moving image reproduction, and thecurrent state of the application A is inactive, whereas the applicationB executed in the window B of the main display 17 is an applicationprogram related to transmitting/receiving and generation of e-mails, andthe current state of the application B is active.

FIG. 9 shows in detail a functional configuration that can be executedby the control unit 41 of the cellular phone 1 shown in FIG. 2. Adescription of configurations corresponding to those in theconfiguration in FIG. 4 will be omitted to avoid repetition.

The control unit 41 executes the application A that is an applicationprogram related to reproduction of moving images, and performs ademultiplexing process, a video decoding process, and an audio decodingprocess, as software processing. That is, the control unit 41 executesthe application A that is an application program related to reproductionof moving images, and separates multiplexed data obtained bymultiplexing audio data and moving image data, for each medium(demultiplexing process). Also, the control unit 41 decodes theseparated moving image data in a predetermined decoding method (forexample, a predetermined encoding method such as the MPEG 4), thusgenerating a decoded digital moving image signal (video decodingprocess). While the embodiment of the present invention assumes a casein which audio data and moving image data are stored in advance in thefile system of the storage unit 42, the present invention is not limitedto this. The present invention can be applied also to a case in whichaudio data and moving image data are not stored in advance in thestorage section 42 (in particular, in the case of, an applicationrelated to reception of terrestrial digital broadcast waves using theterrestrial digital one-segment receiving unit 48).

At this time, the control unit 41 decodes the separated audio data in apredetermined decoding method, generating a decoded digital audio signal(audio decoding process). The control unit 41 supplies the digital audiosignal obtained by the decoding process to the PCM codec unit 38. ThePCM codec unit 38 PCM-decodes the digital audio signal output from thecontrol unit 41, and outputs a PCM-decoded analog audio data signal tothe speaker 50. This analog audio signal is amplified before beingoutput from the speaker 50. The decoding process of each of audio dataand moving image data that are compression-coded in advance in apredetermined encoding method may be performed as hardware processing.

Then, the control unit 41 stores the generated digital moving imagesignal into the video RAM of a display drive unit. The drawing of adigital moving image signal into the video RAM is performed for a numberof times of drawing per second defined with respect to image content tobe reproduced. Then, the display drive unit drives the main display 17,and on the basis of a digital moving image signal stored in the videoRAM built in the display drive unit, performs rewriting of the screendisplayed in the window A of the main display 17 for a predeterminednumber of times set in advance per second.

In this regard, in reproduction of a moving image, it is required toperform drawing for a number of times of drawing set in advance persecond. In a case where processing that is lighter than the normalmoving image reproduction processing is to be performed, part of theprocessing is omitted. To be more specific, a decoding process ofP-frames constituting moving image data is omitted. Thus, CPU resourcescan be allocated preferentially to the application B other than theapplication A that is an application program related to reproduction ofmoving images.

FIG. 10 is a state transition diagram of the application A duringexecution of the application A that is an application program related toreproduction of moving images. In the state transition diagram shown inFIG. 10, the state transition diagram shown in FIG. 6 is divided morefinely in accordance with processing executed by the application A. Asshown in FIG. 10, there are five states of the application A, that is,active normal reproduction state, inactive normal reproduction state,active normal reproduction wait state, inactive normal reproduction waitstate, and inactive light-processing reproduction state.

First, an active normal reproduction state is a state in which theapplication A is active and a moving image is reproduced normally, andif the operating key 14 or the like of the input unit is operated by theuser, the corresponding input is accepted by the application A. At thistime, if the application A receives a deactivate event, the state of theapplication A transits from the active normal reproduction state to aninactive normal reproduction state.

Second, an inactive normal reproduction state is a state in which theapplication A is inactive, and a moving image is reproduced normally. Ifthe operating key 14 of the input unit is operated by the user in theinactive normal reproduction state, the input is recognized as being notaccepted by the application A (that is, the input is recognized as beingaccepted by the application B), and thereafter, the state of theapplication A transits from the inactive normal reproduction state to aninactive light-processing reproduction state. Also, if an activate eventis received by the application A in the inactive normal reproductionstate, the state of the application A transits from the inactive normalreproduction state to the active normal reproduction state.

Third, an inactive light-processing reproduction state represents astate in which the application A is inactive, and among decodingprocesses of moving image data, only a decoding process of I-frames isperformed, and a decoding process of P-frames is omitted, therebyperforming moving image reproduction by lighter processing than normal.Upon transition to the inactive light-processing reproduction state, atimer with a predetermined time period is set. At this time, if thistimer expires, the state transits to an inactive reproduction waitstate. However, if a key input made by a key other than the activeswitching key 22 is detected again before the timer expires, a timerwith a predetermined time period is reset. In this way, by providing atimer for the inactive light-processing reproduction state, if no keyinput is made for a fixed period of time after a normal key input, thestate can return from a state in which a moving image is reproduced bylight processing to a state in which a moving image is played backnormally.

If the application A receives an activate event in the inactivelight-processing reproduction state, the state of the application Atransits from the inactive light-processing reproduction state to anactive normal reproduction wait state.

Fourth, an inactive normal reproduction wait state represents a state inwhich the application A is inactive, and after transition from theinactive light-processing reproduction state in which a decoding processof only I-frames is performed, the application A waits until the nextI-frame is decoded. That is, since a decoding process of P-frames issuspended in the inactive light-processing reproduction state, it isnecessary to wait for the next I-frame in order to transit to theinactive normal reproduction state. Therefore, the application A waitsuntil the next I-frame is decoded. Accordingly, if the next I-frame isdecoded, the state of the application A transits from the inactivenormal reproduction wait state to the inactive normal reproductionstate.

If the application A receives an activate event in the inactive normalreproduction wait state, the state of the application A transits to anactive normal reproduction wait state. Also, if a key input by a keyother than the active switching key 22 is made in a case where the stateof the application A is the inactive normal reproduction wait state, thestate transits to the inactive light-processing reproduction state.

Fifth, an active normal reproduction wait state represents a state inwhich the application A is active, and after transition from theinactive light-processing reproduction in which a decoding process ofonly I-frames is performed or the inactive normal reproduction waitstate, the application A waits until the next I-frame is decoded.Therefore, if the next I-frame is decoded, the state of the applicationA transits from the active normal reproduction wait state to the activenormal reproduction state.

If the application A receives a deactivate event in the active normalreproduction wait state, the state transits to the inactive normalreproduction wait state.

Next, referring to flowcharts in FIGS. 11 to 15, a description will begiven in detail of processing executed by the cellular phone 1 shown inFIG. 9 if a key input event is received in each of the states shown inthe state transition diagram of the application A (application programrelated to reproduction of moving images) in FIG. 10.

Referring to a flowchart in FIG. 11, a detailed description will begiven of an application executing process in the active normalreproduction state in the cellular phone 1 shown in FIG. 9. During theapplication executing process in the active normal reproduction state,the application A is active. Thus, if the operating key 14 of the inputunit is operated by the user, the control unit 41 recognizes the inputas being accepted by the application A.

In step S51, the control unit 41 executes the application A (applicationprogram related to reproduction of moving images) that is to be runsimultaneously by using the multi-window system, and various eventssequentially notified from the application management unit (for example,an event related to a key input made by a key other than the activeswitching key 22, an activate event, a deactivate event, and a decodeevent) are received by the application A.

The application A is activated if the operating key 14 is operated bythe user, and a decoding process is started. If a decode event isnotified to the application A from the application management unit once,the control unit 41 executes the application A, and sets a decode timerfor prompting the next decoding process by using the clock circuit 47.Then, upon expiration of the decode timer set by the application A, theapplication A executed by the control unit 41 notifies the application Aitself of a new decode event. Thus, every time a decode timer expires, adecode event is notified to the application A.

In step S52, the control unit 41 determines whether or not the eventreceived by the application A is a deactivate event. If the control unit41 determines in step S52 that the event received by the application Ais not a deactivate event, in step S53, the control unit 41 determineswhether or not the event received by the application A is a decodeevent. If the control unit 41 determines in step S53 that the eventreceived by the application A is a decode event, in step S54, thecontrol unit 41 reads multiplexed data into the RAM of the control unit41, and separates the multiplexed data into audio data and moving imagedata. In step S55, the control unit 41 decodes the separated movingimage data in a predetermined decoding scheme, and generates a decodeddigital moving image signal.

At this time, in parallel with the decoding process of the moving imagedata, the control unit 41 decodes the separated audio data in apredetermined decoding scheme, and generates a decoded digital audiosignal. The control unit 41 supplies the digital audio signal obtainedby the decoding process to the PCM codec unit 38. The PCM codec unit 38PCM-decodes the digital audio signal output from the control unit 41,and outputs a PCM-decoded analog audio data signal to the speaker 50.This analog audio signal is amplified before being output from thespeaker 50.

In step S56, the control unit 41 executes the application A, and sets adecode timer for prompting the next decoding process by using the clockcircuit 47. In step S57, the control unit 41 controls the main display17 to display the decoded moving image on the main display 17. The maindisplay 17 displays the decoded moving image in accordance with controlof the control unit 41. That is, the control unit 41 stores thegenerated digital moving image signal into the video RAM of the displaydrive unit. Then, the display drive unit drives the main display 17, andrewrites the screen displayed in the window A of the main display 17, onthe basis of the digital moving image signal stored in the video RAMbuilt in the display drive unit.

Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S58. In step S58, as aninstruction for terminating the application executing process is issued,the control unit 41 determines whether or not to terminate theapplication executing process. If the control unit 41 determines in stepS58 to terminate the application executing process, the applicationexecuting process is terminated. If the control unit 41 determines instep S58 not to terminate the application executing process, the processreturns to step S1, and the processes from step S51 onwards arerepeatedly executed. Thus, in a case when the application executingprocess is not terminated, and the current state of the application Aremains the active normal reproduction state, normal moving imagereproduction at the time of active normal reproduction indicated bysteps S54 to S57 in FIG. 11 is repeatedly executed with respect to thewindow A every time a decode event is received from the applicationmanagement unit, until a deactivate event is received from theapplication management unit.

If the control unit 41 determines in step S53 that the event received bythe application A is not a decode event, the decoding process indicatedby steps S54 to S57 is not executed, and the process proceeds to stepS58.

On the other hand, if the control unit 41 determines in step S53 in FIG.11 that the event received by the application A is a deactivate event,in step S59, the control unit 41 changes the state of the application Afrom the active normal reproduction state to the inactive normalreproduction state in accordance with the received deactivate event, asshown in FIG. 10.

If the state of the application A has transited from the active normalreproduction state to the inactive normal reproduction state in step S59in FIG. 11, after the state transition, an application executing processat the time of inactive normal reproduction in FIG. 12 described lateris executed.

Next, referring to a flowchart in FIG. 12, a description will be givenin detail of an application executing process performed if a key inputevent is received in the inactive normal reproduction state in thecellular phone 1 shown in FIG. 9. During the application executingprocess in the inactive normal reproduction state, the application A isinactive. Thus, if the operating key 14 of the input unit is operated bythe user, the control unit 41 recognizes the corresponding input asbeing not accepted by the application A. The processes of step S61, andsteps S63 to S69 in FIG. 12 are the same as the processes of steps S51to S58 in FIG. 11, and detailed description thereof is omitted to avoidrepetition.

In step S62, the control unit 41 executes the application A, anddetermines whether or not the received event is an event caused by a key(for example, the operating key 14) other than the active switching key22. If the control unit 41 determines in step S62 that the receivedevent is not an event caused by a key other than the active switchingkey 22, the process proceeds to step S63, and it is determined whetheror not the event received by the application A is an activate event. Theprocesses of steps S63 to S70 in FIG. 12 are basically the same as theprocesses of steps S52 to S59 in FIG. 11. However, if the control unit41 determines in step S63 that the event received by the application Ais an activate event, in step S70, the current state of the applicationA transits from the inactive normal reproduction state to the activenormal reproduction state.

If the state of the application A has transited from the inactive normalreproduction state to the active normal reproduction state in step S70in FIG. 12, after the state transition, the above-described applicationexecuting process at the time of active normal reproduction in FIG. 11is executed.

If the control unit 41 determines in step S62 that the received event isnot an event caused by a key (for example, the operating key 14) otherthan the active switching key 22, the control unit 41 recognizes thereceived event as being an event with respect to another application(application B) that is running simultaneously in the multi-windowsystem. Then, in step S100, the control unit 41 sets a normalreproduction timer with a predetermined time period by using the clockcircuit 47, and starts timing of the normal reproduction timer. Thisnormal reproduction timer is used for performing light-processingreproduction for a fixed period of time.

In step S1001, the control unit 41 executes the application A, and inorder to perform lighter processing than normal processing, the controlunit 41 causes the state of the application A to transit from theinactive normal reproduction state to the inactive light-processingreproduction state, as shown in FIG. 10.

If the state of the application A has transited from the inactive normalreproduction state to the inactive light-processing reproduction statein step S1001 in FIG. 12, after the state transition, an applicationexecuting process in the inactive light-processing reproduction state inFIG. 13 described later is executed, and a moving image reproductionprocess at the time of inactive light-processing reproduction isexecuted.

Next, referring to a flowchart in FIG. 13, a description will be givenin detail of an application executing process performed if a key inputevent is received in the inactive light-processing reproduction state inthe cellular phone 1 shown in FIG. 9. During the application executingprocess in the inactive light-processing reproduction state, theapplication A is inactive. Thus, if the operating key 14 of the inputunit is operated by the user, the control unit 41 recognizes thecorresponding input as being not accepted by the application A.Description of portions that overlap with the processing in FIG. 12 willbe omitted as appropriate.

In step S72, the control unit 41 executes the application A, anddetermines whether or not the event received by the application A is anactivate event. If the control unit 41 determines in step S72 that theevent received by the application A is an activate event, in step S73,an instruction for switching between the currently active application Band the currently inactive application A is made as the user depressesthe active switching key 22, and the control unit 41 recognizes that theuser's line of sight is directed to the application A. Since it is nolonger necessary to perform light-processing reproduction, the controlunit 41 terminates (stops) the normal reproduction timer that hasstarted timing by using the clock circuit 47.

In step S74, the control unit 41 executes the application A, and causesthe state of the application A to transit from the inactivelight-processing reproduction state to the active normal reproductionwait state as shown in FIG. 10, in accordance with the receiveddeactivate event.

If the state of the application A has transited from the inactivelight-processing reproduction state to the active normal reproductionwait state in step S74, after the state transition, an applicationexecuting process in the active normal reproduction wait state in FIG.15 described later is performed, and a moving image reproduction processat the time of active normal reproduction wait is executed.

On the other hand, if the control unit 41 determines in step S72 thatthe event received by the application A is not an activate event, instep S76, the control unit 41 executes the application A, and determineswhether or not the predetermined time period set in advance in stepS1000 in FIG. 12 has elapsed, and the normal reproduction timer hasexpired. If the control unit 41 determines in step S76 that thepredetermined time period set in advance has elapsed, and the normalreproduction timer has expired, the control unit 41 recognizes thatalthough the normal reproduction timer has been set to start timing toexecute an inactive light-processing reproduction process, no input withthe operating key 14 or the like using the application B has been madeby the user within the predetermined time period, and hence a key inputusing the operating key 14 is not made very frequently. Then, in stepS77, the control unit 41 causes the state of the application A totransit from the inactive light-processing reproduction state to theinactive normal reproduction wait state as shown in FIG. 10.

If the state of the application A has transited from the inactivelight-processing reproduction state to the inactive normal reproductionwait state in step S77, after the state transition, an applicationexecuting process in the inactive normal reproduction wait state in FIG.14 described later is performed, and a moving image reproduction processat the time of inactive normal reproduction wait is executed.

Next, if the control unit 41 determines in step S76 that thepredetermined time period set in advance has not elapsed, and the normalreproduction timer has not expired, in step S78, the control unit 41executes the application A, and determines whether or not the receivedevent is an event caused by a key (for example, the operating key 14)other than the active switching key 22. If the control unit 41determines in step S78 that the received event is an event caused by akey other than the active switching key 22, the control unit 41recognizes that after the normal reproduction timer has been set tostart timing to execute an inactive light-processing reproductionprocess, an input with the operating key 14 using the application B hasbeen made by the user within the predetermined time period, and hence akey input using the operating key 14 is made frequently. Then, in stepS79, after resetting (terminating) the normal reproduction timer to apredetermined time period by using the clock circuit 47, the controlunit 41 resumes timing by the normal reproduction timer. Thus, theperiod of time until the normal reproduction timer expires is extended,and it is attempted to maintain the inactive light-processingreproduction state. The timer may be either of a hard timer and a softtimer.

If the control unit 41 determines in step S78 that the received event isnot an event caused by a key (for example, the operating key 14) otherthan the active switching key 22, in step S80, the control unit 41determines whether or not the event received by the application A is adecode event. If the control unit 41 determines in step S80 that theevent received by the application A is a decode event, in step S81, thecontrol unit 41 executes the application A, reads multiplexed datastored in advance in the file system of the storage unit 42, andseparates the read multiplexed data into audio data and moving imagedata. While the embodiment of the present invention assumes a case inwhich audio data and moving image data are stored in advance in the filesystem of the storage unit 42, the present invention is not limited tothis. The present invention can be applied also to a case in which audiodata and moving image data are not stored in advance in the storagesection 42 or the like (in particular, in the case of, for example, anapplication related to reception of terrestrial digital broadcast wavesusing the terrestrial digital one-segment receiving unit 48).

In step S82, the control unit 41 executes the application A, anddetermines whether or not the current frame being processed duringreproduction of moving image data is an I-frame. If the control unit 41determines in step S82 that the current frame during reproduction ofmoving image data is an I-frame, in step S83, the control unit 41executes the application A, and decodes this I-frame included in theseparated moving image data in a predetermined decoding scheme, andgenerates a decoded digital moving image signal.

At this time, the control unit 41 executes the application A, and inparallel with the decoding process of the moving image data, decodes theseparated audio data in a predetermined decoding scheme, generating adecoded digital audio signal. The control unit 41 PCM-decodes thedigital audio signal by the PCM codec unit 38, and causes a PCM-decodedanalog audio data signal to be output to the speaker 50.

In this way, when reproducing a moving image, part of the decode processof moving image data is omitted, thereby making it possible to allocateCPU resources preferentially to another application that is active.Also, at this time, output of sound following reproduction of the movingimage can be continuously performed. Therefore, by taking usability intoconsideration, it is possible to ensure that even when part of thedecoding process of moving image data is omitted, this does not impairthe ease of use in moving image reproduction.

In step S84, the control unit 41 executes the application A, and sets adecode timer for prompting the next decoding process by using the clockcircuit 47.

In step S85, the control unit 41 executes the application A, andcontrols the main display 17 to display the decoded moving image on themain display 17. The main display 17 displays the decoded moving imagein accordance with control of the control unit 41.

At this time, in a case when the application executing process is notterminated, and the current state of the application A is the activelight-processing reproduction state, a normal reproduction timer elapsedetermining process is performed in step S76 in FIG. 13 until a newevent is received by the application A from the application managementunit, and unless the predetermined time period set in advance elapses,light moving image reproduction (reproduction of moving image data inwhich only I-frames are played back among frames included in movingimage data, and P-frames and B-frames are not played back) at the timeof inactive light-processing reproduction indicated by steps S81 to S87is repeatedly performed with respect to the window A.

If the control unit 41 determines in step S82 that the current framebeing processed during reproduction of moving image data is not anI-frame (that is, if the control unit 41 determines that the currentframe being processed during reproduction of moving image data is aP-frame or a B-frame), in step S86, the control unit 41 cancels thedecoding process of moving image data indicated by steps S83 to S85 soas to omit part of the decoding process of moving image data.

Thus, in a case when the state of the application A is the inactivelight-process reproduction state, of frames included in moving imagedata, the decoding process of P-frames or B-frames is not performed, andthe decoding process of only I-frames is performed, so the processing atthe time of reproducing a moving image can be made lighter. Thereafter,in step S87, the control unit 41 executes the application A, and sets adecode timer for prompting the next decoding process by using the clockcircuit 47.

If the control unit 41 determines in step S80 that the event received bythe application A is not a decode event, the process proceeds to stepS75.

Referring to a flowchart in FIG. 14, a description will be given indetail of an application executing process performed when a key inputevent is received in the inactive normal reproduction wait state in thecellular phone 1 shown in FIG. 9. Description of portions that overlapwith the processing in FIG. 13 will be omitted as appropriate.

In step S92, the control unit 41 executes the application A, anddetermines whether or not the received event is an event caused by a key(for example, the operating key 14) other than the active switching key22. If the control unit 41 determines in step S92 that the receivedevent is an event caused by a key (for example, the operating key 14)other than the active switching key 22, the control unit 41 recognizesthe received event as being an event with respect to another application(application B) that is running simultaneously in the multi-windowsystem. Then, in step S93, the control unit 41 executes the applicationA, and by using the clock circuit 47, sets a normal reproduction timerwith a predetermined time period again, and starts the timing of thenormal reproduction timer.

In step S94, the control unit 41 executes the application A, and inorder to perform lighter processing than normal processing, the controlunit 41 causes the state of the application A to transit from theinactive normal reproduction state to the inactive light-processingreproduction state as shown in FIG. 10.

If the state of the application A has transited from the inactive normalreproduction wait state to the inactive light-processing reproductionstate in step S94, the application executing process in the inactivelight-processing reproduction state in FIG. 13 is performed, and amoving image reproduction process at the time of inactivelight-processing reproduction is executed.

If the control unit 41 determines in step S92 that the received event isnot an event caused by a key (for example, the operating key 14) otherthan the active switching key 22, in step S96, the control unit 41executes the application A, and determines whether or not the receivedevent is an activate event. If the control unit 41 determines in stepS96 that the received event is an activate event, in step S97, thecontrol unit 41 executes the application A, and causes the state of theapplication A to transit from the inactive normal reproduction waitstate to the active normal reproduction wait state as shown in FIG. 10.

If the state of the application A has transited from the inactive normalreproduction wait state to the active normal reproduction wait state instep S97 in FIG. 14, an application executing process in the activenormal reproduction wait state in FIG. 15 described later is performed,and a moving image reproduction process at the time of active normalreproduction wait is executed.

If the control unit 41 determines in step S96 that the received event isnot an activate event, the process proceeds to step S98, and theprocesses from step S98 onwards are executed. The processes of steps S98to S103, and steps S105 and S106 in FIG. 14 are basically the same asthe processes of steps S88 to 87 in FIG. 13, and detailed descriptionthereof is omitted to avoid repetition. However, in step S104, thecontrol unit 41 causes the state of the application A to transit fromthe inactive normal reproduction wait state to the inactive normalreproduction state as shown in FIG. 10.

If the state of the application A has transited from the inactive normalreproduction wait state to the inactive normal reproduction state instep S104 in FIG. 14, the application executing process in the inactivenormal reproduction state in FIG. 12 described later is performed, and amoving image reproduction process at the time of inactive normalreproduction wait is executed.

Referring to a flowchart in FIG. 15, a description will be given indetail of processing performed when a key input event is received in theactive normal reproduction wait state in the cellular phone 1 shown inFIG. 9. Description of portions that overlap with the processing in FIG.14 will be omitted as appropriate.

In step S112, the control unit 41 executes the application A, anddetermines whether or not the received event is a deactivate event. Ifthe control unit 41 determines in step S112 that the received event isnot a deactivate event, the process proceeds to step S113, and theprocesses from step S113 onwards are executed. The processes of stepsS113 to S118, and steps S120 to S122 in FIG. 15 are basically the sameas the processes of step S95, steps S98 to S103, and steps S105 and S106in FIG. 14, and detailed description thereof is omitted to avoidrepetition. However, in step S119, the control unit 41 causes the stateof the application A to transit from the active normal reproduction waitstate to the active normal reproduction state as shown in FIG. 10.

If the control unit 41 determines in step S112 that the received eventis a deactivate event, in step S123, the control unit 41 causes thestate of the application A to transit from the active normalreproduction wait state to the inactive normal reproduction wait statein accordance with the received deactivate event, as shown in FIG. 10.

If the state of the application A has transited from the active normalreproduction wait state to the inactive normal reproduction wait statein step S123 in FIG. 15, the application executing process in theinactive normal reproduction wait state in FIG. 14 is performed, and amoving image reproduction process at the time of inactive normalreproduction wait is executed. Then, until a new event is received bythe application A from the application management unit, moving imagereproduction at the time of inactive reproduction wait indicated bysteps S99 to S104 in FIG. 14 is performed with respect to the window A,and to cause the state of the application A to transit to inactivenormal reproduction, among frames included in moving image data, adecoding process of an I-frame is waited for. After the decoding processof an I-frame is executed, the state of the application transits toinactive normal reproduction.

The embodiment of the present invention can be configured such that, ina multi-window system in which at least a first application program anda second application program run simultaneously, when any given keyinput is made, an event related to key input is notified to eachapplication program; the first application program and the secondapplication program are both capable of transiting to an active state oran inactive state; in a case when the state of the first applicationprogram is inactive and the state of the second application program isactive, whether or not an input has been made with respect to the secondapplication program is made on the basis of the event notified to thefirst application program; if it is determined that an input has beenmade with respect to the second application program, a predeterminedtime period to be timed is set, and the set predetermined time period istimed; upon execution of the first application program that is anapplication program related to reproduction of a moving image,multiplexed data obtained by multiplexing audio data and moving imagedata is separated into the audio data and the moving image data; uponexecution of the first application program, the separated moving imagedata is decoded in a predetermined decoding scheme; and until thepredetermined time period is timed out, a control is performed so as toomit a decoding process of a predetermined frame included in the movingimage data, among decoding processes of the moving image data.

Therefore, in the multi-window system in which a plurality of windowapplications run simultaneously on the screen, and a plurality ofwindows are displayed simultaneously, if an application program thatplaces a high load on the CPU, for example, an application programrelated to reproduction of moving images exists among the windowapplications that are running, when commands are frequently input to thecellular phone 1 as the input unit is operated by the user by usinganother application program (for example, a mailer) that is active, CPUresources are allocated preferentially to the window application that isactive, and processing by the active window application can be performedpreferentially. As a result, the responsiveness of the cellular phone 1using the multi-window system can be improved, providing enhanced easeof use for the user. Further, in other cases, normal moving imagereproduction can be performed by performing a normal decoding processwithout omission. Therefore, it is possible to enhance convenience whenrunning a plurality of application programs in the multi-window system.

While in FIG. 9 the description is given explicitly for the case wherethe application B executed in the window B of the main display 17 is anapplication program related to transmitting/receiving and generation ofe-mails, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, thepresent invention may be also applied to an application program relatedto a schedule pad or a memo pad.

While in the embodiment of the present invention the description isgiven explicitly for the case where any given key input using theoperating key 14 or the like is made with respect to an applicationprogram to be run in the multi-window system, the present invention isnot limited to this. For example, the present invention can be alsoapplied to cases where another input device such as a touch panel isused.

While in FIG. 9 the description is given explicitly for the case wherethe application A executed in the window A of the main display 17 is anapplication program related to moving image reproduction, the presentinvention is not limited to this. For example, in the present invention,the application A may be an application program related to thumbnaildisplay of a still image or a moving image or an application programrelated to a game. In the following, a description will be given of acase where the present invention is applied to an application programrelated to thumbnail display.

FIG. 16 shows in detail another functional configuration that can beexecuted by the control unit 41 of the cellular phone 1 in FIG. 2. Adescription of portions corresponding to those in the configuration inFIG. 4 will be omitted to avoid repetition.

The control unit 41 executes an application A that is an applicationprogram related to thumbnail display, and performs a video decodingprocess of still images and moving images, and a thumbnail creatingprocess as software processing. That is, the control unit 41 executesthe application A that is an application program related to thumbnaildisplay, reads still image data or moving image data stored in advancein the file system of the storage unit 42, and decodes the read stillimage data or moving image data in a predetermined decoding scheme togenerate decoded digital still image signals or decoded digital movingimage signals (still image decoding process and moving image decodingprocess). Also, the control unit 41 executes the application A, and onthe basis of the generated digital still image signals related to stillimages or the generated digital moving image signals related to movingimages, generates pieces of thumbnail image data (thumbnail imagesignals) related to the still images or moving images, and stores thepieces of generated thumbnail image data (thumbnail image signals) intothe video RAM of the display drive unit. Then, the control unit 41drives the display drive unit, and arranges a plurality of thumbnailimages based on the plurality of pieces of generated thumbnail imagedata (thumbnail image signals) in a predetermined sequence for displayin the window A of the main display 17 as shown in FIG. 17, for example.For example, in the case of FIG. 17, thumbnail images N-1, N-2, N-3,N-4, and so on are displayed in a predetermined sequence in the window Aof the main display 17.

In the case of moving image reproduction shown in FIG. 9 or the like,processing that is lighter than normal moving image reproductionprocessing is performed such that, for example, part of processing isomitted to omit a decoding process of P-frames constituting moving imagedata. However, in the case of thumbnail display, a wait process isinserted in between processing in the thumbnail display process Thus,CPU resources can be allocated preferentially to an application B otherthan the application A that is an application program related tothumbnail display.

FIG. 18 is a state transition diagram of the application A duringexecution of the application A that is an application program related tothumbnail display. In the state transition diagram shown in FIG. 18, thestate transition diagram shown in FIG. 6 is divided more finely inaccordance with processing executed by the application A. As shown inFIG. 18, there are three states of the application A, active normaloperation, inactive normal operation, and inactive low speed operation.

First, an active normal operation state represents a state in which theapplication A is active, thumbnail images are displayed at normal speed,and if the operating key 14 of the input unit is operated by the user,the corresponding input is accepted by the application A. At this time,if the application A receives (accepts) a deactivate event, the state ofthe application A transits from the active normal operation state to aninactive normal operation state.

Second, an inactive normal operation state represents a state in whichthe application A is inactive, and thumbnail images are displayed atnormal speed. If the operating key 14 or the like of the input unit isoperated by the user in the inactive normal operation state, thecorresponding input is recognized as being not accepted by theapplication A (that is, the input is recognized as having been acceptedby the application ). Thereafter, the state transits to an inactive lowspeed operation state. When the application A receives (accepts) anactivate event, the state of the application A transits from theinactive normal operation state to the active normal operation state. Iftransiting to an inactive low speed operation state, timing by afixed-period timer is stated.

Third, an inactive low speed operation state represents a state in whichthe application A is inactive, and thumbnail display is performed at lowspeed by inserting a wait (predetermined wait time) between thumbnailgenerations during thumbnail display operation. If in the inactive lowspeed operation state, upon expiration of a timer, the state of theapplication A transits from the inactive low speed operation state tothe inactive normal operation state. If the application A receives(accepts) a deactivate event, the state of the application A transitsfrom the inactive low speed operation state to the active normaloperation state.

The three transition states (the active normal operation state, inactivenormal operation state, and inactive low speed operation state) of theapplication A in FIG. 18 correspond to the three states (the activenormal reproduction state, the inactive normal reproduction state, andthe inactive light-processing reproduction state) shown in FIG. 10.

Referring to a flowchart in FIG. 19, a description will be given indetail of an application executing process in the active normaloperation state in the cellular phone 1 shown in FIG. 16. The processingin FIG. 19 is basically the same as the processing in FIG. 12, and thusdescription thereof is omitted to avoid repetition.

In step S141, the control unit 41 executes the application A(application program related to thumbnail display) that is to be runsimultaneously by using the multi-window system, and various eventssequentially notified from the application management unit (for example,an event related to a key input made by a key other than the activeswitching key 22, an activate event, a deactivate event, and a decodeevent) are received by the application A.

The application A is activated when the operating key 14 is operated bythe user, and a decoding process following thumbnail display is started.

In step S142, the control unit 41 executes the application A that is anapplication program related to thumbnail display, and determines whetheror not the event received by the application A is a deactivate event. Ifthe control unit 41 determines in step S142 that the event received bythe application A is not a deactivate event, in step S143, the controlunit 41 determines whether or not the event received by the applicationA is a decode event. If the control unit 41 determines in step S143 thatthe event received by the application A is a decode event, in step S144,the control unit 41 executes the application A, and reads still imagedata or moving image data stored in advance in the file system of thestorage unit 42, and decodes the read still image data or moving imagedata in a predetermined decoding scheme, generating decoded still imagesignals or decoded digital moving image signals. Of course, the presentinvention is not limited to this but may be applied also to a case inwhich still image data or moving image data is not stored in advance inthe storage section 42 or the like (in particular, in the case of, forexample, an application related to reception of terrestrial digitalbroadcast waves using the terrestrial digital one-segment receiving unit48).

In step S145, the control unit 41 executes the application A, and on thebasis of the generated digital still image signals related to stillimages or the generated digital moving image signals related to movingimages, generates pieces of thumbnail image data (thumbnail imagesignals) related to the still images or moving images. In step S146, thecontrol unit 41 executes the application A, and stores the pieces ofgenerated thumbnail image data (thumbnail image signals) into the videoRAM of the display drive unit (not shown). Then, the control unit 41drives the display drive unit (not shown), and arranges a plurality ofthumbnail images based on the plurality of pieces of generated thumbnailimage data (thumbnail image signals) in a predetermined sequence fordisplay in the window A of the main display 17 as shown in FIG. 17, forexample. For example, in the case of FIG. 17, the thumbnail images N-1,N-2, N-3, N-4, and so on are sequentially displayed in a predeterminedsequence in the window A of the main display 17 (in the order of thethumbnail image N-1, followed by the thumbnail image N-2).

In step S147, the control unit 41 executes the application A, andsuccessively counts the number of thumbnail images displayed bythumbnail display, and determines whether or not the number has reacheda preset display number of thumbnail images. If the control unit 41determines in step S147 that the preset display number of thumbnailimages has not been reached, in step S148, the control unit 41 notifiesthe application A itself of a new decode event. Thereafter, if it isdetermined in step S149 not to terminate the application executingprocess, the process returns to step S141, and the processes from stepS141 onwards are repeatedly executed. Thus, a new decode event issuccessively notified to the application A itself until the presetdisplay number of thumbnail images is reached. If the control unit 41determines in step S147 that the preset display number of thumbnailimages has been reached, the process of step S148 is skipped.

On the other hand, if the control unit 41 determines in step S142 thatthe received event is a deactivate event, in step S150, the control unit41 executes the application A, and causes the state of the application Ato transit from the active normal operation state to the inactive normaloperation state in accordance with the received deactivate event, asshown in FIG. 18.

On the other hand, if the state of the application A has transited fromthe active normal operation state to the inactive normal operation statein step S150, after the state transition, an application executingprocess in the inactive normal operation state in FIG. 20 describedlater is performed, and a thumbnail display process at the time ofinactive normal operation is executed. At this time, in a case when theapplication executing process is not terminated, and the current stateof the application A remains the inactive normal operation state,display of a thumbnail image at normal speed at the time of inactivenormal operation is sequentially executed with respect to the window Auntil a new event is received by the application A from the applicationmanagement unit.

Referring to a flowchart in FIG. 20, a description will be given indetail of an application executing process in the inactive normaloperation state in the cellular phone 1 shown in FIG. 16. The processingin FIG. 20 is basically the same as the processing in FIG. 13 or FIG.19, and thus description thereof is omitted to avoid repetition.

If the control unit 41 determines in step S152 that the received eventis an event caused by a key (for example, the operating key 14) otherthan the active switching key 22, the control unit 41 recognizes thereceived event as being an event with respect to another application(application B) that is running simultaneously in the multi-windowsystem. Then, in step S162, the control unit 41 executes the applicationA, and by using the clock circuit 47, sets a normal operation timer witha predetermined time period, and starts timing of the normal operationtimer. This normal operation timer is used for displaying a thumbnailimage at low speed for a fixed period of time.

In step S163, the control unit 41 executes the application A, and toperform lighter processing than normal processing, causes the state ofthe application A to transit from the inactive normal operation state tothe inactive low speed operation state as shown in FIG. 18.

If the state of the application A has transited from the inactive normaloperation state to the inactive low speed operation state in step S163in FIG. 20, after the state transition, an application executing processin the inactive low speed operation state in FIG. 21 described later isexecuted. In a case when the application executing process is notterminated, and the current state of the application A remains theinactive low speed operation state, until a new event is received by theapplication A from the application management unit, a normal operationtimer elapse determining process is performed, and low-speed thumbnaildisplay at the time of inactive low speed operation is sequentiallyperformed with respect to the window A in accordance with apredetermined sequence, unless a predetermined time period set inadvance elapses.

Referring to a flowchart in FIG. 21, a description will be given indetail of an application executing process in the inactive low speedoperation state in the cellular phone 1 shown in FIG. 16. The processingin FIG. 21 is basically the same as the processing in FIG. 13 or FIG.19, and thus description thereof is omitted to avoid repetition.

If the control unit 41 determines in step S178 that the received eventis not an event caused by a key (for example, the operating key 14 orthe like) other than the active switching key 22, in step S180, thecontrol unit 41 determines whether or not the event received by theapplication A is a decode event. If the control unit 41 determines instep S180 that the event received by the application A is a decodeevent, in step S181, the control unit 41 waits for a predetermined timebetween thumbnail images when performing thumbnail image display. Thus,as shown in FIG. 17, for example, in a case when the thumbnail imagesN-1, N-2, N-3, N-4, and so on are sequentially displayed in the window Aof the main display 17, thumbnail image display is waited for apredetermined period of time between the thumbnail image N-1 and thethumbnail image N-2 that is displayed next, thus allowing thumbnailimages to be displayed at low speed. At this time, the predeterminedwait time corresponds to a period of time between each thumbnail imageand the next displayed thumbnail image, in the flow of time in which thethumbnail images are displayed in the order of N-1, N-2, N-3, N-4, andso on. Of course, this predetermined wait time can be changed asappropriate, and this predetermined wait time is set longer when it isdesired to allocate more CPU resources to other applications.

Thereafter, in a case when the application executing process is notterminated, and the current state of the application A is the inactivelow speed operation state, a normal operation timer elapse determiningprocess is performed in step S176 in FIG. 21 until a new event isreceived by the application A from the application management unit, andunless a predetermined time period set in advance elapses, a thumbnaildisplay process at the time of inactive low speed operation indicated bysteps S180 to S186 in FIG. 21 is executed.

Thus, CPU resources are allocated preferentially to the windowapplication that is active, and processing by the active windowapplication can be performed preferentially. As a result, theresponsiveness of the cellular phone 1 using the multi-window system canbe improved, thus making it possible to enhance the ease of use for theuser. Further, in other cases, thumbnail image can be performed atnormal speed by performing a normal decoding process without inserting await. Therefore, it is possible to enhance convenience when running aplurality of application programs in the multi-window system.

In the case of FIG. 21, after completion of a generating process of asingle thumbnail image related to a single still image or moving image,a wait is inserted in between each generating process to make thethumbnail display speed lower. However, the present invention is notlimited to this. For example, a wait may be inserted in units ofmacroblock of a thumbnail image. That is, in a case when an event isnotified to another active application during generation of a thumbnailimage, even though the thumbnail image is being generated, a wait may beinserted for a period of time corresponding to the time required forgenerating a plurality of macroblocks. Thus, the responsiveness ofoperation can be improved in a case when user's operations using anotherapplication are being frequently performed.

Other than in the case of displaying thumbnail images, also in a case ofdisplaying a single somewhat large still image in the window A of themain display 17, a wait process may be also inserted when user'soperations using another application are being frequently performed.

In the case of the application processing in the cellular phone 1described above with reference to FIGS. 11 to 15 or FIGS. 19 to 21, in acase when user's operations using another application that is active arebeing frequently performed, processing by an application that isinactive is made lighter. However, the present invention is not limitedto this. For example, when the load on the CPU is likely to become high,a dummy key input event may be issued by an inactive application itselfto make processing by the inactive application lighter in advance,thereby preventing an excessively high load from being placed on the CPUin advance. In the following, an application executing process usingthis method will be described. In particular, a description will beexplicitly given of an executing process in which the application A thatis an application program related to thumbnail display is executed in aninactive state. In this case as well, the processing in step S19 is thesame, and thus description thereof is omitted to avoid repetition.

Referring to a flowchart in FIG. 22, a description will be given indetail of another application executing process in the inactive normaloperation state in the cellular phone 1 shown in FIG. 16. The processesof steps S193 to S203 in FIG. 22 are basically the same as the processesof steps 153 to S163 in FIG. 20, and thus description thereof is omittedto avoid repetition.

As the processing in the inactive normal operation state in FIG. 22, thefollowing processing is assumed. That is, for example, in a case whene-mails are going to be transmitted/received by executing theapplication B that is an application program related totransmitting/receiving and generation of e-mails, since an increasedload is likely to be placed on the CPU temporarily, a dummy key event isissued periodically to and received by the application A, not from theapplication management unit but by the application A in the inactivenormal operation state itself. The dummy key input event may be notifiedto the application management unit once and then notified to eachapplication via the application management unit. Also, the determinationas to whether or not to issue a dummy input event may be made bymeasuring the load on the CPU.

In step S192, the control unit 41 executes the application A, anddetermines whether or not the received event is a key input event causedby a key other than the active switching key, or a dummy key inputevent. If the control unit 41 determines in step S192 that the receivedevent is a key input event caused by a key other than the activeswitching key, or a dummy key input event, the process proceeds to stepS202, processes from steps S202 onwards are executed, and the state ofthe application A transits to the inactive low speed operation state.Thereafter, the processing in FIG. 23 is executed. The processing inFIG. 23 is basically the same as the processing in FIG. 21.

Specifically, in a case when the application executing process is notterminated, and the current state of the application A is the inactivelow speed operation state, a normal operation timer elapse determiningprocess is performed in step S226 in FIG. 23 until a new event isreceived by the application A from the application management unit, andunless a predetermined time period set in advance elapses, a thumbnaildisplay process at the time of inactive low speed operation indicated bysteps S231 to S236 in FIG. 23 is executed.

In a case when the state of the application A is the inactive low speedoperation state, if some event is received by the application A, theprocesses from step S221 onwards in FIG. 23 are executed, and in stepS228, the control unit 41 executes the application A, and determineswhether or not the received event is a key input event caused by a keyother than the active switching key, or a dummy key input event. In acase in which the control unit 41 determines in step S228 that thereceived event is a dummy key input event as well, in step S229, byusing the clock circuit 47, the control unit 41 resets (terminates) thenormal reproduction timer to a predetermined time period, and thenresumes timing by the normal reproduction timer. Thus, for example, in acase when e-mails are going to be transmitted/received via the antenna31 by executing the application B that is an application program relatedto transmitting/receiving and generation of e-mails, the state of theapplication A transits to the inactive low speed operation state due toa dummy key input event issued by the application A in the inactivestate itself, and the timer is reset due to a dummy key input event thatis performed periodically, so thumbnail image display can be performedat low speed for a desired period of time. Therefore, it is possible toenhance convenience when running a plurality of application programs inthe multi-window system.

The present invention can be also applied to, other than the cellularphone 1, a PDA, a personal computer, a portable game machine, a portablemusic player, a portable moving image player, and other such informationprocessing apparatus.

The series of processes described above in the embodiment of the presentinvention can be executed by either of software and hardware.

While the embodiment of the present invention is directed to the case inwhich the steps in the flowcharts are processed time sequentially in theorder as they appear in the description, the steps may not necessarilybe processed time sequentially but may be also processed in parallel orindependently.

What is claimed is:
 1. An information processing apparatus for amulti-window system in which at least a first application program and asecond application program run simultaneously, the first applicationprogram and the second application program having an active state and aninactive state, comprising: an event notifying unit configured to notifyeach of the first and second application programs of an input eventrelated to input; an activate unit configured to activate one of thefirst and second application programs and deactivate the otherapplication program; a determining unit configured to determine, whenthe first application program is in inactive state and the secondapplication program is in active state, that the input event notified tothe first application program by the event notifying unit is not anactivate event caused by an active switching key but an event caused bya key other than the active switching key, and to determine whether ornot an input is made to the second application program that is in activestate; a timing unit configured to time a predetermined time period, ifit is determined by the determining unit that an input is made to thesecond application program that is in active state; and a control unitconfigured to change a processing of the first application program to alight processing in which part of processing related to the firstapplication program that is in inactive state is omitted, until thepredetermined time period is timed out by the timing unit.
 2. Theinformation processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: thefirst application program is an application program related toreproduction of a moving image; the information processing apparatusfurther comprises; a separating unit configured to separate multiplexeddata obtained by multiplexing audio data and moving image data, into theaudio data and the moving image data, upon execution of the firstapplication program, and an image data decoding unit configured todecode the moving image data separated by the separating unit in apredetermined decoding scheme, upon execution of the first applicationprogram; and the control unit is configured to control the image datadecoding unit to omit a process related to the first application programby omitting a decoding process of a predetermined frame included in themoving image data, among decoding processes of the moving image dataperformed by the image data decoding unit.
 3. The information processingapparatus according to claim 2, wherein the predetermined frame of whichthe decoding process is omitted by the control unit comprises a P-frame.4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, whereinthe control unit is configured to control the image data decoding unitto omit the decoding process of the predetermined frame, withoutomitting a decoding process of a first frame included in the movingimage data, among the decoding processes of the moving image dataperformed by the image data decoding unit.
 5. The information processingapparatus according to claim 4, wherein the first frame comprises anI-frame.
 6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2,further comprising: an audio data decoding unit configured to decode theaudio data in a predetermined decoding method, upon execution of thefirst application program; and an output unit configured to output soundbased on an audio signal decoded by the audio data decoding unit,wherein, even if the control unit controls the image data decoding unitto omit the decoding process of the predetermined frame, the output unitoutputs sound based on the audio signal.
 7. The information processingapparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit controls so asnot to omit part of processing by the application program that is ininactive state, if the predetermined time period is timed out by thetiming unit.
 8. The information processing apparatus according to claim1, wherein if it is further determined before the predetermined timeperiod is timed out that an input made to the application program thatis in active state, the timing unit resets the predetermined time periodto be timed, and starts timing of the reset predetermined time period.9. An information processing apparatus for a multi-window system inwhich at least a first application program and a second applicationprogram run simultaneously, the first application program and the secondapplication program having an active state and an inactive state,comprising: an event notifying unit configured to notify each of thefirst and second application programs of an input event related toinput; an activate unit configured to activate one of the first andsecond application programs and deactivate the other applicationprogram; a determining unit configured to determine, when the firstapplication program is in inactive state and the second applicationprogram is in active state, that the input event notified to the firstapplication program by the event notifying unit is not an activate eventcaused by an active switching key but an event caused by a key otherthan the active switching key, and to determine whether or not an inputis made to the second application program that is in active state; atiming unit configured to time a predetermined time period, if it isdetermined by the determining unit that an input is made to the secondapplication program that is in active state; and a control unitconfigured to change a processing of the first application program to alight processing in which a predetermined wait time is provided inbetween the processing related to the first application program that isin inactive state, until the predetermined time period is timed out bythe timing unit.
 10. The information processing apparatus according toclaim 9, wherein: the first application program is an applicationprogram related to thumbnail display; the information processingapparatus further comprises; a decoding unit configured to decode stillimage data or moving image data in a predetermined decoding method, uponexecution of the first application program, and a generating unitconfigured to generate thumbnail image data related to a still image ora moving image, on the basis of an image signal related to a still imageor an image signal related to a moving image which is decoded by thedecoding unit, upon execution of the first application program; and thecontrol unit controls so as to provide the predetermined wait time inbetween each generating process by the generating unit.
 11. Theinformation processing apparatus according to claim 10, wherein thepredetermined wait time is provided after generation of a single pieceof the thumbnail image data is finished.
 12. The information processingapparatus according to claim 10, wherein the predetermined wait time isprovided during generation of the thumbnail image data.
 13. Theinformation processing apparatus according to claim 12, wherein thepredetermined wait time is set based on a number of macroblocks includedin the thumbnail image data.
 14. The information processing apparatusaccording to claim 9, wherein if it is further determined before thepredetermined time period is timed out that an input made with respectto the application program that is in active state, the timing unitresets the predetermined time period to be timed, and starts timing ofthe reset predetermined time period.
 15. The information processingapparatus according to claim 1, wherein the event notified to eachapplication program by the event notifying unit is an event related todummy input issued by the application program that is in inactive state.